1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a personal navigation device, and more particularly, to methods of wirelessly adding navigational content to a personal navigation device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Global Positioning System (GPS) based navigation devices are well known and are widely employed as in-car navigation devices. Common functions of a navigation device include providing a map database for generating navigation instructions that are then shown on a display of the navigation device. These navigation devices are often mounted on or in the dashboard of a vehicle using a suction mount or other mounting means.
The term “navigation device” refers to a device that enables a user to navigate to a pre-defined destination. The device may have an internal system for receiving location data, such as a GPS receiver, or may merely be connectable to a receiver that can receive location data. The device may compute a route itself, or communicate with a remote server that computes the route and provides navigation information to the device, or a hybrid device in which the device itself and a remote server both play a role in the route computation process. Personal GPS navigation devices are not permanently integrated into a vehicle but instead are devices that can readily be mounted in or otherwise used inside a vehicle. Generally (but not necessarily), they are fully self-contained—i.e. include an internal GPS antenna, navigation software and maps and can hence plot and display a route to be taken.
A typical user of a personal navigation device leaves the personal navigation device in their vehicle when they are not driving the vehicle. Because of this, the user is less motivated to use a computer to add custom point of interest (POI) data, multi-stop routes, or updated map data to the personal navigation device. When wanting to add any of this content to the personal navigation device, the user instead has to carry the personal navigation device out of the car and into the user's house or office in order to connect the personal navigation device to the computer. Once connected, the navigational content can be transferred from the computer to the navigational content through a wired connection, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection. Content can also be downloaded from the personal navigation device to the user's computer. For instance, many users now enjoy downloading traveling routes or a traveling diary that they have created using a personal navigation device. In either case, whether transmitting data to the personal navigation device from the computer, or vice versa, the user still needs to physically carry the personal navigation device to connect with the computer.
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the prior art method of adding navigational content to a personal navigation device through a computer. Steps contained in the flowchart will be explained below.
Step 100: Start.
Step 102: The user removes the personal navigation device from the user's vehicle.
Step 104: The user connects the personal navigation device to a computer with a wired connection such as a USB cable and sets the personal navigation device to pairing mode so it can pair with the computer. The computer is usually located in the user's home or office, meaning that the user has to carry the personal navigation device out of the vehicle for connection with the computer.
Step 106: The user transfers navigational content from the computer to the personal navigation device.
Step 108: The user completes the transfer and returns the personal navigation device back to the vehicle.
Step 110: End.
As can be seen above, having to remove the personal navigation device from the user's vehicle to pair the personal navigation device with the computer creates unnecessary inconvenience for the user that makes the user less likely to pair the personal navigation device with the computer.